The Date
by LucyToo
Summary: This is a quick, fluffy sequel to The Part You Won't Recognize. Look at the title and realise, ain't nothing deep about it.


_Author's Note - This is a sequel to The Part You Won't Recognize, and a bridge between that story and the third of what I now have planned as a trilogy._

_This is fluff, plain and simple. Just Raph getting to know his shiny new OC, and me figuring out if I'm capable of writing romantic turtle stories._

_A warning to those who read this and actually come out wanting to read the third one in the series - it's going to get grim after this. There will be death. The OC I've created will not be around much longer. (I think some of you will take that as good news. Heh.)_

* * *

The Date

* * *

"You who the what now?" 

Raphael grinned. "I have plans."

Casey gaped at him. He lofted his mask and his bat. "But. We always go out on the weekends and beat up on punks."

"I know, I know."

"You're getting back at me for going out of town, aren't you? I told you, it was a family thing. It wasn't even--"

"Casey. Man, chill." Raph moved into the kitchen, leaving Casey to trail after him. "I'm not getting back at you. I have a…uh. A thing."

"A thing? Beating up on _punks_, Raph! What thing could be more important than beating up on punks?"

Raph might've been blushing if he wasn't green. "Uh. A date thing."

There was silence.

Raph opened the fridge and grabbed a can of soda. Splinter disapproved of the stuff, but it still kept showing up. Raph suspected it was Leo who kept bringing it in - he had a sweet tooth like nuts, and in getting a fix he'd even disobey Splinter.

Minor rebellions could be healthy, he'd told Raph once. Raph had never stopped making fun of him for it.

When he turned, Casey was still standing there, staring.

He cleared his throat. "So. Yeah. You're on your own. Just you and the punks."

"A _date?_ What is that, some fruity brotherly-love talk?"

Raph grinned. "You don't know what a date is? And April's willing to go out with you anyway?"

"Screw off, pal. Now tell me the truth."

From the living room there came a pounding against the door.

Raph grinned. "Come on, ass. Find out for yourself. He moved past Casey to the living room.

Mike was already there, throwing the door open. "Hey!"

Kate Fadillah came through the door, casual and warm and grinning at the warm greeting. "Hey, Mike. How's it--"

"So Kate, I saw this movie on late the other night with this woman with a huge afro who kicked people's asses. She burned up drugs and fought this other woman. It was made in the seventies or something but it was awesome."

She laughed suddenly. "You ain't calling me Cleopatra Jones."

"Aww, but she was cool." Mike stuck out his chin, wide-eyed. Pouting.

"I'm half Lebanese."

"But you're black too!"

Kate regarded him and couldn't hold back a smile. "Only if I can call you Doodlebug."

Mike beamed. "Deal!"

She laughed and knocked him on the arm. "You gotta stop getting your ideas about the world from TV."

"Yeah, don't we tell him that?" Raph moved in, handing his soda off to Casey. "Hey, Kate."

"What's up, Raph?" Her eyes were soft on him, but moved past him to Casey. Her eyebrows flew up in surprise.

Raph bit back a chuckle, knowing the kind of impression Casey made with his gear and mask and his fondness for sleeveless shirts when he went out on his punk-beating evenings.

He sent a grin back Casey's way. "Casey Jones, Kate Fadillah. Casey's an old pal."

She moved in, surprise fading back into a smile. "Right on. Nice to meet you, Casey."

He didn't answer.

Raph glanced back and saw the scowl on his friend's face. He reached over and smacked his arm. "Hey. Be polite, asshole."

Casey's scowl turned on him. "So wait. You have a _date_ date?"

Raph's grin vanished, and his face heated.

He and Kate had spent a few hours together here and there, but they hadn't exactly called it dating. He went by her place on the block, or she came down to the lair, and it was like…hanging out. Nothing huge. Nothing all awkward and close and datelike as…a real date.

Date was his word, used more to see Casey's reaction than anything else.

He shot a glare at Casey, but grinned when he turned back to Kate. "Eh. Don't mind him."

Her eyebrows were almost to her hairline, her eyes twinkling. She moved in, laying a hand on his shoulder and looking at Casey like there was some silent challenge in the air she was answering. "Alright, sure. He's got a date."

Raph somehow managed to flush even warmer. He cleared his throat. "Uh. Yeah."

Casey looked from one to the other of them, but his glare didn't soften. "Kate, huh? Where'd you meet these guys?"

"Actually, Raph here came into my turf."

"Yeah? So where's that?"

"East New York." She took her hand off Raph, folding her arms across her chest.

Casey smirked. "Nice. You a dealer or an addict?"

Kate's face darkened instantly.

Mike moved between them, looking oblivious to the tension. "No, Case! She's like the leader of this troupe of vigilante prostitutes! Well, not really vigilante, but we stopped a killer. It's the most awesome thing ever." He grinned at Kate. "Don't mess with Cleopatra Jones!"

Ignoring his brother, Raph kept his eyes on Casey. Surprised, yeah, but that didn't stop his temper from overpowering it. "What exactly is wrong with you?"

Casey glared at Raph, his expression so pinched it might have come from Leo. "Whatever. I'm outta here."

He moved past them, past Mike, and headed for the door.

Raph turned to watch him go, incredulous. "What the hell, man?"

Casey muttered something unintelligible as he pushed out the door.

Kate turned to Raph. "Sweet guy."

"Usually, yeah." Raph frowned at the door, but dismissed Casey after a moment. Overreacting jackass.

"Sorry about that," he said finally, trying to smile. "He's been gone a couple weeks, and I guess he was looking forward to hanging out or something."

Kate hesitated. "I'd be all noble and say you should go hang out with your friend if you want, but he was rude, so screw him. What're we doing tonight?"

Raph relaxed after a minute. "I think we…" His eyes went to her left.

Mike still stood there.

"Help you with something?"

"So is this really a date, then?"

"Oh my God." Raph shut his eyes. "Will you go away?"

"No, tell me! I wanna know who wins the…" He stopped, looking at Raph with suddenly wide eyes.

Raph blinked. "The what? You guys aren't making bets on my personal life, are you?"

"Of course not. Gotta go." Mike was across the living room and safely shut into his bedroom in about a second and a half.

Raph dropped his head. "Okay, if anyone else wants to humiliate me, come on and get it over with."

There was a pause.

She spoke after a moment, amused. "You can relax. I think we're safe."

"Jesus." He glowered around the lair. "Maybe we should get out of here."

"Sounds good. Got plans?"

He recovered his smile. "You don't think a stroll through the sewers is enough of a treat?"

She snorted. "I think you're lucky I have a pair of shoes ratty enough I don't mind walking them down here. I got an idea, though, if you trust me."

He shrugged. "Sure. Should I get…?"

"Yeah, we're going up to my level, pal. Dress up nice."

Raph ducked into his room and came back with trench coat and hat in hand. Not the best disguise when it came to hanging around people, but she had at least known him long enough to realize the realities involved. He trusted her not to take him someplace too crowded.

He was only gone for a few seconds, but when he came back Leo and Splinter were out there talking to her. He groaned.

She laughed when she saw his face. "I was asking if they had any baby pictures. I was hoping to get in one last humiliation."

He smirked. "One good thing about being a mutant turtle. No photo albums."

"Oh, but there are stories." Leo grinned. "There are always stories."

"No. Shut up. Go away." Raph moved to her fast, grabbing her arm and steering her towards the door. "Kate. Out. Leo, keep your mouth shut. Splinter, all respect, but save it. I'll be back later, you can embarrass me all you want."

Splinter simply raised an eyebrow, watching them go. Leo was grinning so big he showed teeth, which was something for him.

Mike's bedroom door popped open and he stuck his head out. "Splinter won the spread!" he shouted.

Raph slammed the door behind him with a growl.

Kate just laughed.

He turned to her. "Look, Kate, they're just--"

"Don't even start, Raph. Come on." She held out her arm. "We got a date to get going."

He met her eyes, hesitant.

She rolled her eyes, grinning. "Don't over think it, Nightwatcher. Go with those instincts of yours."

Raph smiled at that, the tension leaving his shoulders. He took her arm, as gentlemanly as any human could've managed, and gestured to the tunnel ahead. "Lead on, then. Cleopatra."

"Oh, don't you start too."

* * *

Central Park was always iffy. On the one hand, it was known to be a cesspool of drug dealers and pick-pockets, among the occasional rapists and murderers.

On the other hand, it was those very things that kept it free after dark of most tourists.

It was usually pretty empty when Raph looked down on it at night. But he didn't go in unless he saw something going down he had to stop.

Kate just looped her arm around his and pulled. "Come on. It's nice out."

"You're inviting trouble."

"No one's going to mess with us. This place is as sterile as Times Square these days. Besides, you can't handle trouble?" She raised her eyebrows, the challenge in her eyes.

He smirked. "Leo would call that tempting fate."

"But Leo ain't here, is he?"

He regarded the gates to the park.

She sighed. "You really don't wanna--"

He grinned and moved towards the entrance. "I never said no. I'm just making sure we both know what we're in for."

She beamed as bright as Mikey, pulling up to his side. "I always liked coming at the park from the west."

"Yeah?"

She shrugged. "We never got to come much, but dad would always march us in through the east, which meant Fifth Avenue, which meant a lot of blocks walked looking at the fancy stores and the nice cars and the women in their fur coats." She sighed. "Kind of a mean thing to do to a poor ghetto rat."

He looked around as they went, surprised as always to move just a few steps off the sidewalk and suddenly find himself surrounded by green, looking at trees, at stretches of grass. New York needed Central Park, no doubt about that.

There weren't many people around. Not that he could see. Closer to the museums and the rides and all there'd still be crowds, but aside from a few people still sitting out on blankets or walking on the path, the night belonged to them. The chill in the air was enough to see to that.

Raph smiled to himself. "Good call, coming here."

"You think?"

He nodded.

They walked on, Kate still locked onto his arm like a few of the other couples around them. He glanced at her as they walked, taking in her profile as she looked around the park.

The word 'date' still felt like it was hanging there between them. Thrown around by Casey and Mike, accepted with a laugh by her, but he wasn't sure any of them meant anything serious by it.

He couldn't help doubting. He'd been pissed off at himself from the moment he started realizing he'd done something as dumb as getting to know and like a human female.

There'd been a moment there, at the start of it, when he was relieved. After all, if he could like a human, he wasn't necessarily going to be alone forever. But more cynical reality never left his mind for very long.

Sure he was going to be alone. Look at what he was.

But she had to give him a chance and play along, call him on the phone and invite him over and talk for hours about growing up in their respective sewers. Had to talk to him like they had things in common, like it didn't matter he was a giant reptile.

It'd be nicer of her to laugh in disgust. At least he'd know exactly where he stood.

"So I talked to the lady from the child welfare office today," Kate said suddenly, glancing over at him.

He jerked his eyes past her, trying for casual, as if he hadn't been staring. "Yeah?" But he realized what she meant a moment later, and was thankfully properly distracted by it. "About Bug?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Apparently because he's an orphan due to something that made the news, they're getting calls about him. A lot of kids…they sit and rot in those state homes until they're 18 and can be kicked out. But it looks like he'll find himself a family."

He smiled sincerely. He still had that picture Bug had drawn of him - giant round ball of a shell, tiny head and thin stick arms and legs. And his bike.

He loved that frigging thing.

"I'm glad."

"Me too." She hesitated. "First time I talked to her I asked if there was any way he could come to the neighborhood. Said I knew his family, and he knew all of us, and it might be easier." Her mouth twisted.

He waited. "I guess she said no?"

"She has the same idea about our part of town as your friend Casey."

"Prick." Raph grimaced. "Sorry about that. He's not usually so rude, unless you're stealing a wallet when he meets you."

She glanced his way and smiled suddenly. "Raph, honey, I'm half black, half Middle Eastern. I'm poor, I'm a woman, and I'm a pro. Trust me, I am used to not being liked. Hell, I'm surprised I've lived this long."

He laughed, surprised. "Cynical."

"Think I'm not capable of it?" She nudged his arm.

He shrugged. "I think you're capable of anything."

She stopped dead in her tracks, blinking wide eyes. "God damn, if that wasn't the sweetest damned thing anyone's ever said to me."

He laughed, his face heating. He grabbed her arm and tugged her on. "Think I'm not capable?" he threw back at her.

She grinned and fastened herself to his side.

From day one she'd never been afraid to touch him, the way a lot of humans were. It was a nice change, but he still couldn't help but wish she'd just go ahead and be disgusted by him already.

"Sweet bastard."

"Shut up."

She grinned at him.

He smiled back, but didn't meet her gaze for more than a few seconds.

Felt weird. Felt very, very weird. He didn't like the sort of nervous, uncertain roll in his stomach. Like he was some timid little teenager on his first date.

Jesus. Wait.

That's exactly what he was, wasn't it? Well, hell, he'd outgrown the teenager part. They couldn't be sure how old they were exactly, him and his brothers, but he'd had at least twenty-two or twenty-three years in the sewers.

Still. Timid virgin on his first date. Good God.

He laughed to himself, shaking his head. Fucking brave, rash, hothead, impatient, reckless, irresponsible. That's what he was. He dove into anything without a moment of doubt. He faced guns, swords, ninjas, mutants, aliens. He'd faced down Shredder on his own, and a hundred oncoming Foot.

This was one unarmed female.

"What are you chuckling about over there?"

He hesitated, but dove in. Rash, hotheaded. He had an excuse, at least. "How scary some little skinny Cleopatra Jones from the hood can be."

She blinked at him, her smile fading. "Excuse me?"

He shrugged. "Just that--"

"Skinny?" She dropped his arm. "_Skinny?_ Skinny is one of these little anorexic blonde Manhattan women with the ermine and the designer purses. You see this?"

He laughed in surprise when she turned around and shook her hips at him.

"Got my daddy's nose but my mamma's ass. This is _thick_."

He looked away, flushed and laughing. "Alright, alright. Sorry."

"Uh uh, Mr. Nightwatcher. Recognize."

"You want me to stare at your ass?"

"Why not? Half the guys out here are."

He looked around instantly. "What?"

She laughed and turned again, smacking his arm. "Mind your language from now on. Skinny. Please."

"Sorry. Damn. I didn't realize it was a bad word."

"Well, now you know." She leaned in, tipped the brim of his hat. "Anyway, you don't want to date some skinny little thing. You'd break her in half." Her eyes moved up and down him, speculative, though his trench covered up pretty much everything. "Not that she wouldn't enjoy it."

"Oh my God, what's going on tonight?" Raph laughed even as the nerves fired up in his belly again. "What's with all the innuendo?"

She grinned. "I can't help it." They started moving again towards the lines of trees in the distance. "I'm in a good mood tonight. There's no killer in my hood, my friend's kid is gonna find a home. And…" She snuck him a look. "Uh. Well, it's embarrassing, but…this is kinda my first date."

He blinked. "It is?"

"Yeah. I mean, mamma was always uptight about that. She told me too many girls in our hood got pregnant and started having kids when they were still kids themselves. She's right, too. That's why Chelle and a lot of other girls left school and ended up walking the street. She didn't want me fucking anyone, and if you're not fucking then guys don't want anything to do with you."

Raph saw her smile starting to wilt.

He thought about the TV shows Mike watched, the human world they saw through sitcoms. He remembered what Kate told Mike earlier, about how he had to stop thinking of that as real life.

She sighed. "Even after dad got put away and mamma died, I still remembered what she said. I mean…" She glanced over. "You might think I'm the world's biggest hypocrite, considering what I do for money. But I'm always careful. Ain't no john ever gonna get me pregnant."

He regarded her silently.

She looked away, and he thought he saw something like embarrassment on her face before she turned. "Anyway, I went from virgin to ho, and yeah. You don't get a lot of real dates either way. So…this. The whole thing, it's nice." Her hand left his, rubbing her arm as if suddenly cold. Or defensive. "I meant it when I said you weren't like other guys I knew. We've been talking a lot, and that's been great. I mean, you've had me all alone in my apartment and you didn't even try…"

He cleared his throat, uncertain. When he spoke his voice was softer than he'd intended. "You expected me to try something?"

She shrugged. "Yeah."

"Huh." And there he was, thinking she couldn't have had any clue that he was attracted to her at all. Like she wouldn't even consider the idea because he was how he was.

She grinned suddenly, tight and edged. "Damn, Raph, even Shug thought we were fucking."

He blinked, remembered. That first night he met most of his block, Shug calling out her little jokes and making everyone laugh.

He'd thought the jokes were just jokes. "I just…people have never…" He growled frustration, unable to find the right words. "Look at me," he settled on finally. "I can't imagine there's any human out there who pictures this when they think about…"

"Raph, the people you're used to aren't like us. In the real world there's right and wrong and propriety and expectations about getting married and having three kids and a car and a dog or whatever. Where I'm from? You gotta live with what's there. You gotta take some happiness where you find it, because things change so fast and so hard."

He wasn't sure how to answer. The idea that something that had stressed him out so much had just been taken for granted by her…

"Why do you think drugs and whores are the two big vices where I'm from? The drugs make you feel good for ten minutes, the whores get you off. It's all about finding what kind of pleasure you can in life before it's all taken away from you. None of us are ever gonna be rich, or safe. None of us assume we're gonna get old and die of some disease. It's all about today. Fuck what other people might think you should do, you do what makes you happy."

Raph smiled at that, thoughtful. "I get accused a lot of living like that. Maybe that's what drew me back to that street year after year."

"There you go." She returned the smile. "You jump into danger and go up against guns and knives and whatever you and your brothers have seen, but you still let the little things trip you up. You and me, how we're different. That kind of thing is so small, considering neither of us probably has that good a chance at living a long, healthy life."

He considered that.

"Am I making any sense at all?" She looked at him, eyes hooded.

Nervous, he saw. Shy.

Jesus. She felt as awkward about all this as he did. She'd thought about them in terms of actually…actually _fucking_…and she was nervous about it.

That helped. It helped so much he could finally meet her eyes and smile, wide and sincere. "Yeah. Makes sense."

She swallowed. "Good."

He grinned suddenly. "I can't believe this is a frigging date."

There was a beat, and she laughed. "Is it a bad one so far?"

"I have no idea. It's my first one too. I'm enjoying myself, anyway."

"Yeah?" She met his eyes, and seemed to get the same relief he had from finding out they were both on equally awkward footing.

He reached out a hand.

She took it after a moment, hooking her five, slender fingers through his broad, blunt three. And somehow it fit.

They walked.

* * *

She flipped the switch to turn the light on and ushered him through the door. "You do realize it's not a big thing if people see you here."

Raph didn't take the hat off until the door was shut and she was pulling the locks closed. "Part of the deal," he answered, shrugging off the trench coat with a relieved sigh. Clothing was necessary, but he never liked it. The Nightwatcher armor had been torture.

"What? They let you come out but you gotta stay hidden?"

"Yeah. So hopefully these people will just forget there are big turtles walking around in the world." He shrugged. "I guess they have a point. I mean…I can't get involved. That's the rule. Stopping Tyrone…"

She made a face at his name, but moved past him to the tiny kitchenette off the side of the small living room. "Drink?"

"Thanks. Stopping him was a good thing, because what he was doing doesn't belong here. But everything else…"

"Natural course of the world," she said with a sigh. She tossed him a soda can.

He caught it. "Pretty much. No stopping the drive-bys, no interfering in deals. And since I can't help, it's best people don't even know I'm around anymore."

She moved in and dropped on the loveseat. "It's good Bug's not around, then. He'd never forget you."

Raph thought about that picture and smiled. "When he gets himself adopted can we find out where he is?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I've already asked. We're not family, and even family'd have a bitch of a time finding out."

Raph frowned. But...maybe that was best. Bug was a kid, and kids always grew out of things, right? He'd draw turtles for a while, and people would think he just had a good imagination. Best let it go at that.

She kicked her muddy sneakers off onto the worn carpeting. "So? Do I get a story tonight?"

He grinned and moved to sit beside her, dropping heavy to the couch. "Where'd I stop?"

She gestured with the can. "If I remember right, you were talking about finding the stuff that made you and your family mutants. You said something about aliens, and I didn't want to hear anymore."

He laughed. "Right. Want I should skip that part?"

Kate shook her head with a grin. "Either way I gotta live knowing they exist, so I might as well know the facts behind it."

"I'll be nice and not tell you what they look like."

Her eyebrows rose. "Raph?"

"Hmm?"

"What do they look like?"

"Brains. At least this particular kind. There are dinosaurs, too, and a few other ones I could--"

"Okay. Never mind. Skip that story. What you got that doesn't involve aliens?"

He laughed, twisting to face her, leaning his shell into the corner of the couch. "Why don't you take a turn?"

She snorted. "What've I got that'd compete with aliens? You already know all about me. You watched from the rooftops for most of my life."

Raph shrugged. "So tell me something I wouldn't have understood watching from roofs."

"Like what?" She shifted, hiking a knee up on the cushion to watch him better.

He thought about it. "Okay, so one time a few years ago I was hanging around over 1241, listening to the guys there."

"Freestyling. The poets of the block. Right on." She grinned.

"And across the street where some of the girls are hanging out, two of them start fighting. Like, serious, scratching and throwing punches and everything."

She laughed. "I guess a lot of the ladies in Manhattan don't get to beating on each other like that."

"Not that I've ever seen. So, just like it's nothing, this one girl reaches out and yanks this woman's hair right off her head. I swear for a minute I thought she'd scalped her with her bare hands."

Kate cracked up.

"I mean it. I was impressed. Then I figured it was just a wig, but she still had some hair left…"

"Oh Lord. You wanna know about weaves, don't you?"

He grinned. "That what they're called?"

"Mmm hmm. Hair for girls who don't have hair. These fools around here spend five hundred bucks on their hair and fifty on food."

He grinned, reaching out. "How about this? Is it real?"

"Hey!" She swatted at his hand. "It's all real, thank you. Got my dad's hair along with his nose." She shook out her thick, curly hair. "Made these females jealous as hell, too. Mamma didn't so much as trim it for the first ten years. It used to be down my back before I was old enough to hack at it with scissors on my own. Mamma was more proud of it than I was." She grinned wryly. "Was the only thing about being mixed that those girls ever wanted for themselves."

He hesitated, eyes drawn to the dark mass of waves. "Can I…?"

She blinked, but smiled. "Oh. Yeah, I guess it's kind of new to you, huh? Sure, feel free."

He shifted closer, reaching out hesitantly.

She grinned. "There you go being shy again." She shook her hair out. "Come on, dive in."

His broad fingers looked blunt and clumsy so close to her, but he ignored that and let his fingertips brush over her hair.

"Huh."

She grinned. "What were you expecting?"

"I dunno." He drove his fingers in deeper, sliding easily through the dark waves. Soft he expected, but it was really frigging _soft_. He watched his hand in fascination. Splinter's fur was short and blunt and tended to get bristly. This was nothing at all like that.

He freed his fingers and took a lock of hair with them, toying absently with it. He realized he was grinning. "Random patch of fur on your head. It's kind of weird if you think about it."

She laughed. "I happen to like it. Anyway, how about that girl you saw get her hair ripped out? Bet she looked pretty weird without it."

He nodded, tugging lightly on the lock of hair in his hand.

"Okay, knock it off if you're just gonna play with it."

He didn't let it go, though. He twirled the end in his finger absently.

She rolled her eyes, but that soft smile was back on her face. "Do I get a turn next?"

He blinked. "What?"

She reached out and let a fingertip slide down his plastron. "You're pretty unfamiliar to me too, you know. It's only fair."

He swallowed, but freed her hair from his hand. "Okay."

"Good. Turn around."

Raph raised his eyebrow, but turned his back to her.

Her hand appeared as barely-felt pressure on his shell.

"Huh."

His eyes were on the arm of the couch in front of him. "It's…you know. Big shell."

"Yeah, kinda is, huh?"

He laughed. "Done yet?"

"Not hardly."

He sighed.

"Oh, shut up." She slapped his shoulder.

"The hell are you doing back there?"

She was quiet for a moment. Her voice sounded different when she spoke again. "You know, my mamma used to tell me all these fables she brought with her from Nigeria, or she took from old slave stories. I mean, she used to tell me all the damned time. I'd skin a knee, she had some African folktale about a giraffe that was supposed to make it better."

Raph laughed. "Sounds like Splinter."

"Oh. Yeah, kinda the same thing." She was thoughtful, and wherever her fingers may have been on his shell the touch was too light for him to feel it. "Anyway, there's one she told every now and then, and I've thought about it a few times since I met you."

He grinned. "Something about a turtle?"

"Yep. His name was Tappin."

"Tappin?"

She laughed, quiet against his back. Closer than he thought. "Yeah. Tappin the Turtle. So the story goes, Tappin had all these children and there wasn't enough food to feed them. He goes on all these quests trying to find food to feed his family, but everyone keeps betraying him and just screwing him up more."

He waited when she fell silent, wondering. It made his breathing a little deeper, knowing she was so close, touching just where he couldn't see it, so light he couldn't feel it. Studying him so closely.

"Tappin was supposed to represent the Africans who ended up in America as slaves, see." She sounded thoughtful. "He crossed the ocean to speak to the king of the underworld, and the king gave Tappin this strip of cowhide. He told Tappin to take it up to dry land, say a little chant, and it would give him all the food he could want. But when Tappin was on land and he tried it, the cowhide became a whip, beating him and anyone else who came near." She was hushed by then.

He felt oddly warm and short on breath. "That's kind of an awful story."

"Mm. Mamma said the whip was how come turtles all have such deep marks on their shells. They're scars from the first turtle to feel the whip. And hiding those scars is why turtles prefer to live in dark, covered places."

He looked over his shoulder.

Kate was behind him, fingers going up and down over a grooved indentation in his shell.

She looked up when he turned, met his eyes. Her gaze was loaded with things he couldn't begin to guess at. Strangely deep, that look, and it was hard to break her gaze.

She smiled after a moment, and even that look was full and heavy. "See, Raph? You really do belong here. Even the folktales from a hundred years ago say so. You might look different, but you're one of us. You're a soldier. Your brothers may not have that in their souls, not the way you do. But you…" She shook her head, sitting back. "You're special."

He shifted, turning back around to face her. He managed a wry grin, though there was something breathless stirring in him that didn't feel much like smiling. "Kate."

"Hush. I'm not done." She met his eyes, heat in her gaze.

It was that heat more than anything that made him let go, release that shaky tension he couldn't drop. That uncertainty that any minute now the differences between them were going to come home to her and she'd push him away in disgust.

Her eyes had moved to his plastron, and her hands came out and trailed along the groove down the middle of his chest. "What does this feel like?" she asked softly.

He hesitated, looking down at the brown of her hand against the yellow of his plastron. He smiled faintly. "Not much of anything, actually. It's just…like bone, I guess. Same as the shell."

"And this?" Her fingers moved to either side, to the bridge between shell and plastron.

He felt the touch, but distant. The pressure was easier to detect.

He cleared his throat, dragging his eyes back to her face. "About the same." His voice sounded oddly thick. He cleared his throat again.

She glanced at his face for a moment, but her gaze went back to her hands. She let one hand drop to focus on the other, moving back and forth over the ridge of the bridge.

The longer she touched him in those hard, senseless places, the more oversensitive his skin seemed to feel. He felt almost breathless, waiting for her light touches to find somewhere he'd really feel them.

She looked up at him again suddenly. Her eyes were dark, simmering with some kind of inner heat. He recognized the look - he thought he must've looked about the same.

Her hand moved with her eyes still locked to his, and lay light against his arm.

His muscle shivered under her fingers, just as sensitive as he'd guessed. He let out a breath, fast and shaky.

He needed some kind of blueprint, some hint of where this was going and how far. She wasn't hard to read - she didn't keep much hidden - but he still didn't like guessing. He didn't like the thought of doing anything that would make her pull away, or change that look of heated fascination in her eyes.

Her hand moved, sliding up the line of his bicep. She smiled softly. "Feel that, though, don't you?"

"Yeah." It was more breath than sound. "Yeah, that I feel."

"Good." Her eyes went to his arm, watching her finger trace the curve of muscle. "You know, Shug was right. We don't get a lot of guys around here built like you."

He grinned shakily at the thought of Shug, and that first day meeting everyone. "You like it, huh?"

"Mmm hmm."

He let his arm flex under her touch, biceps bunching. Hell, he was proud enough of his body. He'd worked his ass off for it, even more than his brothers. Leo had always been about katas and fluidity, grace. Don and Mike had other interests and trained about the bare minimum. Raph? He liked strength.

Especially when Leo was gone. The Nightwatcher never let a day go by without working to improve, to bulk up. To make sure he was in absolute top condition.

Her breath stuttered when his muscle hardened under her touch. She licked her lips absently and slid fingers up and down the defined curves. "Jesus, Raph."

Something about the catch in her voice made his heart speed up a fraction. He leaned in, letting his hand slide through her draping hair again. "My turn again." His voice was a grumble, lower than he'd ever heard it before.

But she answered his touch with her own, bringing her hand up to toy with the band around his eyes. Her breathing seemed faster, her eyes scouring his face as if looking for something.

He didn't let himself wonder what she saw. Green, wide features, animal. Different. He didn't worry about it. The heat in her expression hadn't cooled for a second, and that was good enough for him.

Her palm lay over his cheek. She moved, sudden, fluid, over the couch to slide onto his lap, straddling easily. "Raph…"

He instinctively slid his hand to her back, and she was right there suddenly, against him and warm and searching. Waiting, he realized.

The Nightwatcher had never been shy enough to miss those cues. He moved his other hand to her waist and pulled her tight against him.

She smiled an absent kind of smile. "I was hoping you'd say that." She leaned in and let her mouth find his, as soft and exploring as her fingers had been.

She'd kissed him once before, a quick peck meant to be a goodbye kiss when he came to tell her he was forbidden from returning to her.

This? Was nothing like that. That had been soft, quick. This was firm, undeniable, and once she kissed him she didn't pull away.

He felt his way into it, tilting his head a little, sitting back and letting her rest against him. In his head he couldn't have explained what reaction getting kissed like that might cause - he'd never thought about it much, never had any idea what to expect.

Luckily his body didn't need to have the words ready to react. His sensitized skin seemed to tingle every place her body touched his. The flush in his cheeks spread down through his entire body.

Her hand slid around to the back of his neck and stayed, as if worried he would try to pull away.

He wasn't going anywhere. Ever.

It was like when he was caught in the middle of a really good fight. That moment when he downed a stubborn enemy and looked around and realized there were five more coming. That rush of adrenaline, the banishment of fear. Nothing but instinct and reflex. His mind silenced, his body singing with the urge to move.

His hand lifted, tracing the line of her spine. So small, yeah, but not so weak. He wouldn't break her, he realized suddenly. He was just bigger. That was hardly an insurmountable difference.

Her mouth was hot on his, her breath puffing against his cheek. She pushed tight against his chestplate, and made a soft sound against his mouth, nibbling in playful exploration.

He smiled against her, unable to control it. He'd spent years training his body to fight, to grow as strong as possible. He'd trained balance, flexibility. Done katas, learned weapons. It was about strength and dealing out pain without feeling pain himself.

This was those same muscles and skin and bones indulging in something that was simply meant to feel good. Pleasure, different than any he'd known.

He wondered suddenly, absurdly, if Mike would compare it to pizza.

He laughed faintly, and she pulled back.

Her eyes were bright. "Good sound?" she asked, lips wet and full and calling out invitations.

He nodded, catching his breath. He couldn't stop his fingers from drawing lines up and down her back. "Sorry."

She smiled. "This is supposed to be fun. A little laughter's a good thing."

"Can we…?" His eyes couldn't rest on any one feature. From her eyes to her mouth to the flush darkening her cheeks, everything wanted to be touched and tasted and felt.

She met his eyes. Her hand left his face and found the hand around her waist. Taking his wrist, she slid his fingers underneath her shirt.

His breath got trapped in his chest. He hadn't realized, but…just the feel of skin under his fingers…

Jesus.

He made a low, rumbling sound in his throat and pulled her to him, finding her mouth again. One hand moved up to stroke that ridiculously soft hair, and the other…up and down, whispered touches under her shirt, over the curve of her side, to the shift of muscle along her back.

Kate shivered against him when his fingers found the small of her back. A soft sound against his lips was cut off by a gasped breath.

His pulse jumped at those helpless sounds. Heat pooled in his stomach, pulsed between his legs. He _wanted_, more than he ever thought he could want this thing he never thought he'd have.

He broke away from her mouth, eyes snapping open. "Kate."

She reached out, touched his face with the backs of her fingers. "You okay?"

"I don't…" He swallowed. What? He didn't know what he was doing? He didn't know when he was supposed to stop? He was completely out of his depth?

She met his eyes, for a moment concerned. But whatever she saw in his face made her relax again almost instantly, smiling. "It's okay," she said softly, her breath whispering against his cheek. "I do."

"But…what…?"

"We'll figure it out as we go."

He swallowed, searching her face.

"Fun, remember?" She leaned in, letting her lips trail along his jawline. "Maybe we can't do everything, but we can do enough."

"Enough?"

She laughed softly. "You'll see." Pulling away, she sat back against his thighs and tugged at her shirt. It was over her head and on the floor in a moment, leaving her brown and smooth and bare in a simple black bra.

He reached out, struck by the contrast of dark green against chocolate brown.

A moment later he had her back against him, kissing the breath out of her and telling those nerves of his to go rot somewhere far, far away from him.

* * *

Mike looked up, his eyes round and big like they always looked when he wasn't wearing his bands. "Afternoon, sleepy."

Raph came out of his room, grin on his face. "Morning, Mikey."

"Raph, it's like two o'clock."

"Close enough." He moved to the kitchen, humming under his breath. Some seventies R&B song Kate had been listening to last night. Late, late last night.

He grinned to himself, plucking out a bowl and spoon. He needed a big calorie-laden bowl of cereal to get him started.

He grabbed his favorite kind - chocolate flakes that were nothing but sugar. The box was too light, and a shake revealed that someone had eaten all but a spoonful and put the box back.

He grinned. Mike was a shithead, but he was stubborn. Didn't matter how many times Raph kicked his ass for doing this, he kept on.

He glanced across the kitchen at the trash can. Balancing on one leg, he tossed the box into the air and snapped a kick as it fell that sent it spinning across the space directly into the trash.

Grinning in triumph, he reached for Mike's cereal. Fruity, but it would do. He spun and grabbed the milk, still humming.

Mike was there.

Surprise made him jump, but he grinned and moved around his brother. "The hell are you sneaking up on people for?" He dumped colorful fruit-shaped cereal into the bowl on the counter.

Loose. Relaxed. He had a shitload of energy somehow, and could've fought off a thousand punks if he wasn't in too good a mood to fight.

"Raph?"

He jumped again.

Mike was right behind him.

He reached out to knock Mike's arm, chuckling. "You gotta stop--"

But Mike moved away, a dart across the floor to escape his arm. "Hey!"

Raph blinked, went back to his cereal. "You okay, bro?"

"Oh my God. LEO!" Mike shot out of the kitchen.

Raph rolled his eyes and dumped milk on his breakfast. Humming, he took a swallow from the bottle as he took it back to the fridge.

When he turned around, Leo and Mike were there.

He laughed. "The hell's wrong with you guys today? Is there some sneak-up-on-Raph-without-getting-our-dumb-asses-killed exercise I missed hearing about?"

"Good God, you're right." Leo looked at Mike, wide-eyed.

Mike nodded.

Leo moved in. "Raph?" His voice was gentle. "What's going on?"

Raph looked down at himself. Still intact. He looked back up, brow furrowed. "I'm making breakfast, Leo." He shook his head, smiling. "You guys have lost it."

Leo jumped when he approached. "Mike, maybe you should get Splinter?"

Mike darted out of the kitchen.

Raph stopped, finally managing to twist his mouth into something besides a grin. "Okay, what? What's going on with you two?"

"It's not us, Raph. It's…" Leo gestured.

Raph looked down at himself again. "It's what?"

Maybe her hands had left some mark he couldn't see. Maybe he had some lip-shaped scars on his body, or…

"That!" Leo pointed right at his face.

Raph's grin wavered, but couldn't vanish. "What?"

Mike's voice drifted in as he approached the kitchen again. "--just that he's smiling all strange and he's being nice and he didn't murder me for eating his cereal and he's making these sounds, like music or something., and he's got to be--"

Splinter, eyebrows perched high, raised a hand to silence Mikey once they were closer. He looked at Raph.

Raph waited, holding back a laugh.

"Raphael. Your brother tells me we are all in imminent danger. Tell me, are you on the verge of a psychotic episode of some sort?"

Raph blinked. "Oh my God, guys. I'm just in a good mood."

"I see."

Mikey whimpered, hiding behind his short, slight father.

Raph laughed. "Would you knock it off, chucklehead? I'm not about to snap. Everything's fine."

Mike looked at him from over Splinter's ears, wide-eyed and dubious.

Leo spoke in a soothing tone. "Sure it is, Raph. Everything's just fine."

Raph grabbed his cereal bowl. "Right. You guys act nuts, I'm going to hang out with Donnie."

Mike jumped away when he passed, but couldn't stifle a giggle. He never could hold up an act too long.

Raph ignored the whispering, and Splinter's bemused replies. His brothers could have picked a more subtle way of rubbing it in that Raph wasn't usually as cheerful as he was that day. Honestly.

Overdramatic idiots.

He knocked on Don's door. "Yo."

"Raph? Come on in."

He moved in, shut the door. Crammed a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "You remember that old game of ours?"

Don didn't look up from the pages of some book or manual or other important bunch of papers bound together. "Game? You don't mean that old computer game from a thousand years ago?"

Raph grinned. "Maybe five years ago. But sure. Whatever happened to that thing?"

Don looked up. "I think we left it…" He trailed off, eyes going wide.

Raph took another bite of cereal, waiting. Grinning. Had been a fun game when they were kids, and he and Donnie had designed it together, and they didn't do enough anymore, just the two of them.

Don carefully lifted the book off his lap and stood from his bed. "Okay. Raph. Um, you wait here. I'm gonna go see if I can't…um…find it." He went past Raph to his door. "LEO!"

Raph dropped his head and sighed.

Maybe it wasn't worth it being in a good mood.

He grinned to himself a moment later, following Don out to his whispered, giggly conference with Leo.

Immature idiots.

He rolled his eyes and went back to his room. After the cereal he could stifle his smiles and try this day again.

He was just shutting the door when Mike's voice rang out from the direction of his bedroom. "Okay, someone get him to admit he got laid and Leo wins the spread."

"Yes!"

* * *

end 


End file.
